Breaking up ain't hard to do
by cein
Summary: Part 2 - Abby's plan for riches continues
1. Default Chapter

Warning, this fic is rated for death of a character.  
Abby fans probably won't like this fic. Neither will Luka fans. And as for Lubbies, well, you'd better not read this either, okay?  
  
Set immediately after the events of 'The longer you stay', and contains spoilers for that episode.  
  
  
  
Breaking up ain't hard to do  
  
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"This can't be happening," said Kerry as she stood anxiously in the ambulance bay. "Are you sure you got the name right?"  
  
Haleh nodded. "There's no mistake," she said hoarsely. "I can't believe it's happening again."  
  
Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of the ambulance. Doris jumped out and started hauling on the gurney.   
  
"Forty year old male, found unconscious, possible booze and pills...had to tube him at the scene."   
  
As the gurney was pulled onto the ground, a tear stained Abby climbed out, bagging the patient.   
  
"Oh God," gasped Kerry, as Luka's pale face came into view. She hesitated only momentarily before grabbing the gurney and starting to push it towards the ER. "Abby, what happened? What did he take?"  
  
"I...I don't know," said Abby, tears running down her cheeks. "We...we'd had a fight...I...I went to his apartment...I didn't want to leave things the way they were. He...he didn't answer the door...when I got in, he was there...and...and there were pillboxes all over the place...and...and a bottle of vodka. I...I called 911 and started CPR...I didn't know what else to do."  
  
By now they had reached trauma one. "On three," called Kerry as they lifted Luka's unconscious body onto the bed. "Do you have the boxes?"   
  
In answer Doris pulled a bag from her pocket. "Looks like he took a whole range of stuff," she said, handing it to Kerry.  
  
Kerry looked at the pills and groaned. Bad enough dealing with an OD of a single drug...but this much...in combination with alcohol...this wasn't going to be easy. Her brain switched to automatic as she reeled off a list of orders to Haleh and Lydia.   
  
"What can I do?" asked Abby, once Yosh had taken over bagging Luka. Sniffling, she wiped tears away.   
  
"I think you should wait outside," said Kerry gently.  
  
"No...no...I want to be here..."  
  
Kerry noticed Carter hovering outside and called to him. "John...I don't think Abby should be here...take her to the Lounge."   
  
Carter looked uncertainly at the table and then back to Kerry.   
  
"I've got this covered," she said wearily, with a small shake of her head.   
  
"Um, okay," said Carter, putting his arm around Abby and guiding her out of the trauma room. She glanced back over her shoulder at Luka, who was now attached to various monitors and I.V.'s, but didn't resist.  
  
"He's going to make it...isn't he?" she asked, looking up at Carter hopefully.  
  
"I'm sure he will...if anyone can save him, Kerry can," said Carter with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. He'd seen the readings on the monitor and he'd heard from Zadro just how much Kovac had taken. Even if he did survive, he was unlikely to wake up...but Abby didn't need to hear that...not now.  
  
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Carter watched as Abby paced nervously up and down the lounge. She had refused his offer of coffee, and was now chewing on an unlit cigarette. Carter was seriously considering getting her something to calm her down a bit, but had decided to wait and see what the outcome of Luka's treatment was.   
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.  
  
Abby shook her head and continued pacing for a few seconds before stopping and looking at Carter. "We had a fight...a...a bad one...oh God, Carter...I never realized he was so upset...I...I said some terrible things to him...this is all my fault..." She burst into tears again, and Carter instinctively moved towards her, putting his arms around her.   
  
"Shh...Dr. Weaver's doing her best...she'll do everything possible."  
  
"But what if she can't save him? What if I didn't get him here in time?"  
  
Carter's reply went unheard as the door swung open and they both instinctively glanced at it.   
  
"Excuse me," said Yosh, sticking his head into the room.  
  
"Oh God," said Abby, pushing Carter away. "Is...is..."  
  
"They're still working on him," said Yosh, "But there's a police officer outside who wants to talk to you...about what happened."  
  
"Can't they wait?" asked Carter, a trace of annoyance in his voice. "Abby's in no condition to make a statement."  
  
"It...it's okay John," said Abby, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I...I'll have to do it sooner or later...better to get it over with." She took a deep breath before saying to Yosh, "You...you can tell him I'll see him now."  
  
Yosh nodded and disappeared, returning a few minutes later with a uniformed police officer who he introduced as Officer Pembroke, before leaving.  
  
"Ms Lockhart, I'm sorry to have to do this now, but we need to establish what happened," said the officer.  
  
Abby nodded dully from her seat on the couch. Carter put an arm protectively around her.  
  
"Can you tell me what happened?"  
  
"I...I went to Luka...Dr. Kovac's apartment. We...we'd had a bit of a fight, and...and I went there to clear the air...and to apologize as well...I'd said some things I'd regretted..." Abby took a deep breath before continuing.  
"He...the light was on when I got there, but he didn't answer the door. I thought at first that he just didn't want to talk to me...but...but I couldn't just leave things the way they were...so...so I let myself in...and he...he was there...on the floor...oh God..."  
Abby's lip trembled and she looked away.  
  
"And what did you do then?" asked Pembroke.  
  
Abby composed herself and continued. "I...I'm not sure...I...I remember seeing the pills...and I knew what he'd done...what he'd tried to do...that's when I called 911."  
  
Pembroke made some notes. "Do you know where he got the pills?"  
  
Abby shook her head.   
  
"He's a doctor," said Carter. "He could have easily obtained them. Either from here...or he could have written prescriptions...it's not difficult," he said with a trace of irony.   
  
Abby squeezed his hand gently, knowing he was speaking from experience.  
  
"Do you have any more questions Officer?" asked Carter, seeing that Abby was close to tears again.  
  
"Not for now...the detectives will have a look round his place. You didn't find a note or anything?"  
  
Abby shook her head.  
  
"Pity," said Pembroke. "Makes it easier when they leave a note. Thank you for your time." He left the room.  
  
"It'll be all right," said Carter soothingly. "I'm sure..." His voice died away as the door opened again and Kerry limped in. Her face was drawn, and she was moving slowly.  
  
"Abby," began Kerry, her voice tired. "I'm so sorry Abby..."  
  
"No," said Abby, pushing herself up from the couch. "No..."  
  
"I'm afraid that there was nothing we could do...Luka suffered a cardiac arrest...we...we did all we could to revive him, but..." Kerry swallowed hard. "Luka died a few minutes ago. I'm so sorry."  
  
"NO!!" screamed Abby, as she collapsed sobbing into John's arms. "He can't be gone...we were going to move in together...it was just a silly fight...he...he can't be gone..."  
  
Carter hugged her close as she sobbed.   
  
Kerry watched unhappily. She had kept shocking Luka long after she had known there was no hope...finally she had been forced to admit defeat. Tears sprung to her eyes at the thought of never seeing his face again, and she brushed them away hurriedly.   
  
"C'mon Abby," said Carter finally. "I'll take you home." He looked at Kerry, as if daring her to stop him, but she didn't.   
  
Carter drove Abby back to her apartment and escorted her inside.  
  
She sat pathetically on the couch, staring numbly at the floor.   
  
"It's not your fault," said Carter, sitting beside her and putting his arm around her. "Whatever reason he had for taking those pills...it was *his* decision...it's not your fault if he was too weak to continue living."  
  
Abby leaned in against him as he continued to hold her and reassure her that it wasn't her fault.   
  
Finally Carter looked at his watch.   
  
"Don't go," said Abby.  
  
"Abby," Carter started to say, but she cut him off with a finger on his lips.  
  
"Please...stay with me...I...I don't want to be alone..."   
  
"Of course I'll stay," said Carter.  
  
"Thank you," whispered Abby. She was silent for a moment before asking in a small voice, "Do you think I'm pretty?"  
  
"I think you're beautiful," said Carter, gently stroking her hair.  
  
Abby smiled inwardly. She had known that Luka had just said that to be hurtful to her...just like he had said all those other things to her. Carter would never have said such things to her...she should have asked him out last year instead of Luka. But then, better late than never. Once she had seen the size of his family's house, she had kicked herself for wasting so much time on the 'Eurodoc' when 'Richie Rich' had been carrying a torch for her all along. It had taken a while to maneuver Luka into a fight with her...but she had succeeded admirably. It hadn't been difficult to persuade Luka to let her into the apartment. She had just turned up with tears streaming down her face and a hundred fake apologies on her lips. He had obviously been drinking before her arrival...and it was a simple matter to slip a fast acting sedative into his drink. Once unconscious, she had forced an NG tube down his nose and poured a mixture of pills and booze down it. One of the compensations of having a bipolar mother, she thought with a smug smile. Always plenty of pills lying round. Then it was just a case of scattering the boxes around his unconscious body - being careful to smear them with his fingers, just in case a detective got suspicious - removing the tube and hiding it in her purse, and then waiting.   
  
She had thought about just leaving him there, but had decided that someone may have noticed her visit, so after waiting long enough, she had dialed 911 and faked hysteria.   
  
"I deserve an Emmy for this," she thought to herself as she snuggled close to Carter. She would 'allow' him to help her with her grief...maybe a short mourning period before she made her move on him. Then once she had a wedding ring on her finger, all it would take would a sudden 'relapse' and accidental OD for her to become rich beyond her wildest dreams. "Yes," she thought. "Everything's worked out just the way I wanted."  
  
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The End  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Part 2

Title: Breaking up ain't hard to do - part 2  
Author/pseudonym: ceindreadh  
Email address: ceindreadh@eircom.net  
Rating: PG-15  
  
Last episode seen: On the beach  
Last relevant episode: The Longer You Stay  
Notes: When I wrote part one, I knew that it was going to piss off some of the Luby's. So in the interests of fairness, I decided that it was the Carby's turn   
  
Disclaimer: "ER" and all its characters belong to Warner  
Bros. No infringement of their copyright is intended. This story  
was written for the enjoyment of "ER" fans everywhere, and  
may be downloaded for your own pleasure  
  
Breaking up ain't hard to do - part 2  
  
Previously on ER.  
  
Abby and Luka had a fight and split up (The longer you stay). Abby went to Luka's apartment, supposedly to try and patch things up, but in reality to drug him into unconsciousness and force a quantity of sleeping tablets down his throat. After waiting long enough to ensure their effectiveness, she called 911 and acted suitably distraught as Luka was rushed to County where Kerry was unable to save his life. A tearful Abby was comforted by Carter who brought her home. As Abby relaxed in Carter's arms, she reflected that her plan had worked like a charm.  
  
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"I deserve an Emmy for this," Abby thought to herself as she snuggled close to Carter. She would 'allow' him to help her with her grief...maybe a short mourning period before she made her move on him. Then once she had a wedding ring on her finger, all it would take would a sudden 'relapse' and accidental OD for her to become rich beyond her wildest dreams. "Yes," she thought. "Everything's worked out just the way I wanted."  
  
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Part 2  
  
Abby Carter jolted awake in her bed, a scream on her lips. "Luka!" Groping frantically around on the nightstand, she finally found the light switch. "It's just a dream...it's just a dream," she told herself as she rummaged around in the drawer for a packet of cigarettes. With shaking hands, she lit one and took a few unsteady puffs. John probably wasn't going to be happy about her smoking in their bedroom, but screw him. If he had been here instead of working another night shift, then she wouldn't *need* a cigarette. She had tried to persuade him to use his influence as an Attending to work less hours, but oh no, Dr. John Carter aka the center of the ER, had insisted that he work his share of night shifts, just like any lowly mortal.   
  
Bastard, thought Abby, contemplating her husband of ten months. God, she could hardly wait until their first anniversary so she could kill him and get it over with.   
  
Of course, things hadn't always been this bad. John had been much more attentive when he was courting her. Courting...it sounded such an old-fashioned term...something more suited to Luka. Abby cursed herself as an image of Luka floated into her mind. She wouldn't think of him...she wouldn't. After his death...okay, lets be honest here, she thought to herself. After she had killed him, she had allowed John to comfort her...to sit with her for hours on end and hold her while she cried on his shoulder. It had been a brilliant performance, no doubt about it. John of course had been worried about her having a relapse, and had spent as much time as possible with her. It had only been a matter of months before he had hesitantly kissed her for the first time.   
  
He had proposed to her six months later. After pretending that she needed to think it over for a while, Abby had graciously allowed - or rather persuaded - John to buy her the biggest ring in the shop. True, it was a bitch to get gloves on over it, but hey, once she was married, she could give up work and devote herself to her *true* vocation...being a lady of leisure. Of course, John had been rather surprised at her suggestion that she stop work after their marriage. "I thought that you loved nursing...that you loved knowing that you were making a big difference to your patients?" he had said, with surprise in his voice. She had hastily back-pedaled, saying that with his income as an Attending that she wouldn't really *need* to work...and that it was unfair of her to be taking a job from someone who *did* need it. "Besides," she had smiled seductively at him, "I was going to stop working anyway, once we have our first child." That had distracted him sufficiently for one night, but a few days later, he had told her that he had the perfect solution...volunteer work at a free clinic that was run by the Carter foundation. Abby had been unable to think of a good enough excuse, so now she was stuck working in that cursed place...and not even having any money to show for it.   
  
They had had a small wedding...John hadn't wanted a big production like most Carter family events. And since Abby was only in it for the money, she didn't see the big deal on wasting it on a big day. She hadn't even complained when he had suggested they buy a small apartment instead of the bigger one she had wanted. But hey, once she'd bumped him off, she'd be able to buy a dozen apartments...one for each month of the year. Things would have been working fine...if it hadn't been for two words...Trust Fund.   
  
Abby cursed those words. Why the hell had nobody mentioned to her that all of John's money was tied up in a Trust? True, he had a substantial income from it...and sure, if he wanted anything big like an apartment, he just had to request that money be released to him, but that was no way to live...begging for every penny. And to make matters worse, as Abby had found out later, the Trust was irrevocable...even on John's death. Sure, as his widow, she'd have a settlement, and a small income...but that was it.   
  
And so, she had come up with Plan B. The Insurance policy. It hadn't been too difficult to persuade John that it would be only prudent to have a policy taken out on his life. After all, she had told him with a winning smile. "We have to think of the future...for us *and* our family."   
  
So now it was just a case of waiting a few more months. If John died 'by his own hand' within a specified period, then the payout was only half as much. Granted, he technically *wouldn't* have died by his own hand, but she didn't think the Insurance company would be too interested in such niceties.   
  
So, here she was, just marking time...and trying not to get too freaked out by her nightmares. They had started several months ago, and were the same each night. She was in the ER, watching Kerry trying to save Luka's life...and suddenly Luka woke up and accused her of killing him. "I should have stuck a stake through his heart," muttered Abby, stubbing out yet another cigarette. Slumping back in the bed, she looked at the ashes, knowing that she should clean them up before John returned home or else sit through another lecture on the evils of smoking. A wry smile flitted over Abby's face. Whatever lecture John would give her about her cigarettes, it was nothing to what he'd say to her if he knew she was taking sleeping pills to prevent her nightmares.   
  
Oh she didn't take them *every* night...just the nights when she was alone in the apartment. It was almost a little ritual of hers...vitamins, her sleeping tablet, and her contraceptive pill. That was another thing that John didn't know about. She sure as hell didn't want to get stuck with a squalling brat on her hands after John was dead, no way. So she hid her pills and pretended to keep her ovulation charts and every month she pretended disappointment that they still weren't pregnant. Of course, the actual sex wasn't bad, and it was interesting to be finally in a position to *properly* compare Luka and John...at least in the things that mattered.  
  
Abby rummaged around in the drawer until she found her stash of pills. Shaking two of them into her hand, she washed them down with a glass of water from the nightstand. Funny...the water made the pills taste much more bitter than usual. Abby blinked slightly as the room started to slide out of focus. This wasn't right...the pills usually took longer to take effect. Abby looked at the pill bottle...it was starting to blur, but she could still see that there were fewer pills there than there should have been. Surely she hadn't used up so many? Oh God, had she taken pills already tonight? Abby could feel her limbs get heavier. She tried to concentrate...she had to phone John...he'd take care of her.  
  
With clumsy hands, she picked up the telephone and hit the speed dial button. It seemed to take forever for the connection to be made, but finally she was through. "John...John," she gasped. "Help...I need you..." The sound of a dial tone was the only response. Abby stared uselessly at the handset for what seemed like an eternity before finally trying to dial a number...any number. But it was too late. Her fingers stabbed uselessly at the buttons as the numbness swept over her entire body. Slumping to the floor, the phone was dragged down on top of her.  
  
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Carter switched his phone off and replaced it in his pocket. "Sorry about that, Kerry," he said, with an apologetic look on his face. "I usually remember to switch it off."  
  
"Well don't forget it in future," snapped Kerry. "Bad enough that we have to keep reminding patients not to use their mobiles, but as a doctor here, you should know better."   
  
Carter stifled a smirk as he watched Kerry limp away. "Well I won't be a doctor here much longer," he thought. "Not once the insurance payment on my poor dead wife kicks in."  
  
He had realized soon after he had proposed to Abby that she was more interested in the Carter money than she was in him. But he had persisted in the relationship, convinced that she would eventually love him for himself. And then he had heard her talking in her sleep about what she had done to Luka...and that had given him an idea. Bringing up the subject of mortality had been easy. Hell, working in the ER everyday gave him plenty of material on the subject. And it had been amusing watching Abby trying to maneuver the subject around to insurance policies and how *he* should have one. And he had allowed her to persuade him to take one out on his life and hadn't even noticed that it was a double policy that covered *her* life as well.   
  
The discovery of her prescription for sleeping pills had even given him the perfect opportunity. It had been an easy matter to dissolve a quantity of them in the jug of water beside her bed...and it had been even easier to prepare a few clearly forged prescriptions for repeat doses. They would be evidence...if any was needed, that Abby had clearly planned to take her own life. And as for him, he had a perfect alibi. All he had to do was show up at home and discover his late wife, taking care to empty the water jug of its lethal contents. And then he would have a nice lump sum to do whatever he wanted with. True he would have more if waited for another few months for the suicide clause to kick in, but hey, he wasn't *that* greedy. And the best part was, that there would always be a pretty lady on hand to comfort a grieving widower.  
  
Whistling happily to himself, Carter walked through the ER.   
  
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The End 


End file.
